You want your seaside wedding ceremony and reception to be a picture-perfect event where your family and friends come together to share your new-found joy.

It is essential to choose the right centerpieces since these will serve as the focal point of tables at your wedding. Beach centerpieces should be striking and natural-looking. They should blend seamlessly with the tropical theme.

The four primary ingredients of wedding beach centerpieces are sand, glass, sea shells and flowers. These ingredients can be easily interchanged allowing for almost infinite centerpiece designs that are dazzling as well as practical.

Here are some tips for creating attention-grabbing centerpieces:

Playful Candles

This is the most basic and easiest design. Start with a small transparent glass vase – the kind sometimes used to shield candles from the wind. Fill the vase about 1/3 full with white sand. Place a lit candle on top of the sand, surround the vase with flower leis and sea shells and voila! You have classic table centerpieces for your wedding. Beach centerpieces like this one are delicate and pretty. They are also inexpensive and fun to make.

Tropical Flowers

To create a centerpiece that blends perfectly with seaside surroundings, choose a larger vase heavily textured with a sandy, rocky surface. Balance the muted tone of the vase by filling it with zesty red antherium, hibiscus and birds of paradise flowers. Surround the flowers with palm or banana leaves. Add a few large shells and you have an elegant, “beachy” centerpiece to complement your reception.

Beach Buckets

For a more playful centerpiece, collect several small, brightly colored sand buckets (the kind designed for toddlers). Next, arrange a small pile of sand on the table. Place the bucket in the sand. Fill the bucket about one quarter full of sand. Place a small votive candle in the sand inside the bucket. Surround the bucket with small shells, starfish, seahorses and sand dollars. Light the candle and enjoy a gorgeous tropical wedding centerpiece that only took you a few minutes to create! For an extra touch, add a few miniature rakes at each table so your guests can enjoy the serenity of their own tiny Zen garden.

Do’s and Don’ts

Here are a few extra tips to keep in mind if guests will remain outdoors for the reception as well as the wedding: Beach sun can quickly wilt flowers on a hot summer day and gentle trade winds can sometimes become wild gusts that can extinguish your candles at the most inopportune moment.

Luckily, these hazards can be easily avoided with a little forethought. If you decide to use candles as part of the centerpiece arrangements, make sure they are shielded well. Something as simple as a glass can serve this purpose capably.

As for flowers, you will want to select varieties that will hold up well in high heat and direct sunlight. Calla lilies, antherium, ginger and birds of paradise serve this purpose well. Normally, an experienced florist will be able to help you strike the perfect balance of beauty and longevity.

Before you buy, tell the florist that you plan to use the flowers at an outdoor wedding on the sand. Ask them to give you one flower to test. Put the flower in a vase and place it in the general area where the reception will take place. Keep an eye on the flower for a few hours to see how well it holds up.

Blend the best flowers with elements of sand, glass and sea shells to create inexpensive centerpieces that express your unique style.